Moving Update and 4th of July

I realized I've been kind of quiet about the big move back to the United States so here's the big moving update. We've been so busy adjusting to life with Finn and then traveling that the move has been on the back burner (kind of).

We've known all along that we will be heading to Groton, CT after Mike is done with the Olmsted because he must attend department head school (SOAC) for six months, which is located in Groton.  Once he is done with SOAC, he will be attached to a submarine at one of the seven submarine bases (Groton, Norfolk, Kings Bay, GA, San Diego, Bangor, WA, Pearl Harbor, and Guam).   A few months ago, we submitted our location preferences, as well as preferences for what job Mike would do and what type of submarine would be on.  Unfortunately, Mike got an email while we were on our road trip saying that they didn't have the job Mike wanted on the type of submarine he wanted and the detailer (person who chooses where we go) wanted to know if we cared more about where we were located or the job that Mike did.  We had preferenced Groton as our number one location because it meant that we wouldn't have to move again after SOAC (very appealing considering we've both moved every year since graduating college).  As much as we don't want to have to move again after SOAC, ultimately, Mike said he'd rather be doing a job he enjoys than to avoid another move, which makes sense to me.  For me, while another move would be a pain, I understand Mike's reasoning and I can find a job wherever we go. So, now we wait another month or so until we find out where we are going.  Groton isn't out of the picture completely, but we're mentally preparing for the possibility that we'll be moving again in March.

Did you get all of that?  If you did, props to you.  If you didn't, don't worry. Just know we're moving in August and we might have to move again in March.

While moving is not fun, we're really lucky because the Navy sends movers in, they pack us up and load everything into the truck(s) and we just have to supervise.  As one of Mike's classmates said, it's kind of like we're celebrities.  Ha! Even though we don't have to do a lot of physical labor during a move, there is A LOT of organization and preparation that gets done beforehand, especially since we're moving overseas.

We returned from our Balkan road trip and went right into moving mode. We came back on Sunday and had one week until we left for the UK for Mike's sister's wedding and some travel.  We get back on a Saturday and the movers come that Monday, so we basically have to be ready for the movers when we leave for the UK.  Stressful? Yup.  Impossible? Nahhhh.

The main thing to do was to figure out what is going in each shipment.  We will check bags with us when we fly back that will be filled with stuff we need in August.  We're going to be traveling around Virginia visiting friends and family, so we'll need things like clothes, diapers and laptops in this "shipment," but nothing we don't normally pack when we travel.

The next group of stuff that needed to be sorted was the express shipment.  Since we are moving overseas, we get an express shipment of stuff that we will want immediately when we move in to our house.  This shipment can include up to 1000lbs of stuff, but can't include furniture since it is being sent by air. We've kind of decided that we're going to live in a furnished apartment for the six months while Mike is at SOAC since our final shipment of stuff isn't going to arrive until at least November and there is the possibility that we'll be moving again at the end of the six months.  Therefore, we're sending things like our printer, Christmas decorations and a few kitchen appliances such as our KitchenAid Mixer and Keurig. Oh, and all of the baby stuff! I doubt we'll reach 1000 lbs, but we want to make sure we have everything we want in our temporary house.

The last shipment is everything else, including our furniture. Because we aren't planning on seeing this stuff until March, we are really trying to make sure nothing is going in it that we don't need.  It makes me wonder how much of that stuff we could get rid of...

Anyways, we had lots of stuff to do and not that much time to do it.  Finn also got his first round of vaccines on Wednesday morning which took a toll on him and meant we basically lost an afternoon to a (understandably) fussy guy.  Luckily, a little medicine helped bring back our happy baby and had him feeling back to normal by evening.

All of the things we had to do.  If you look closely, you'll see Mike had to get an HIV test.  Apparently the Navy requires them every 2 years and wouldn't buy our tickets home until he got the test done. Normally this wouldn't be a problem because he would just go to the clinic on base, but there isn't a base here.  On top of that, the only HIV testing locations we could find were for gay men, so we had lots of fun trying to get that one checked off.  Luckily, we figured it out.

So many lists, so little time. 

One of the things on our list of things to do was ship the car and that we did.  Friday afternoon, the tow truck came to pick up the car around 4:30 and by 4:45, the car was gone.  By far the easiest car shipment we've done thus far!  

Amid all of the moving chaos, we took some time to celebrate the 4th of July! We hosted a little cookout in our backyard and hosted about 15 people.  Mike grilled burgers and bratwursts and I made red, white and blue sangria and cupcakes.  We couldn't pass up an opportunity to share our patriotism with our neighbors and Mike's classmates. It was  a lot of fun and we had fun celebrating, even if we weren't in the United States. 

So many burgers!

Needless to say, it was a busy week in the Hogan household. When we return from the UK, it'll be even crazier, but we'll just cross our fingers and say a little prayer that everything makes it to the US in time!  Happy moving season!

A Weekend in the Windy City

We found out a week or so before I left to come home that I would most likely be here through the 4th of July.  My parents had already planned to head north to Chicago to visit my aunt, uncle and cousin, so I decided to tag along with them.  I didn't realize that it would be my last weekend in the United States, but I was so grateful that I got to spend it with my family.

My parents and I headed to the airport on Friday and, after finding out we were delayed an hour, we chose to spend our time differently.  My dad chose to nap....

while I wandered the terminal and ran into these guys....

After our delay, we took an uneventful flight to Chicago and met my aunt for lunch.  It was really past lunch time, but we (mainly my dad) had been eagerly waiting for deep dish pizza, so we obliged, despite the time.  If you have my family, you know there are a lot of us.  So many that I had to draw Mike a family tree so he could keep track of us all.  He probably still has it somewhere and references it when I'm telling another family story.  Anyways, one of my second cousins 5 million times removed was in Chicago visiting a friend from college and had emailed my aunt about meeting up.

My dad, Katie, and aunt

That evening, we hung out at a brewery with my aunt and uncle near their house.  We ended the night at a Mexican restaurant.  It was so fun to hang out and catch up.

The next morning, we started out the day with my dad's favorite apple pancakes.  Can you tell how happy he is? 

That afternoon, my parents and I went for a walk and hung out at the house while my aunt and uncle prepared this delicious meal for us.  That evening, one of my dad's best friends from college and his wife came over for dinner at my aunt and uncle's house.  It was so fun to listen to him and my dad tell stories from college.  I learned about a whole different side to my dad.  ;)

The next morning, my aunt, my parents and I headed into the city.  We made a quick stop at the bean and couldn't resist a selfie at the bean!

We walked around the city and couldn't resist a picture of the sign that might be as loud and as obnoxious as it's owner.

We stumbled into Millennium Park where the orchestra was practicing.  We got a free concert just listening to them practice!! How cool is that? I love finding things like that in cities.    

After hanging out in the park, it was time to head down to the river for our boat cruise.  My aunt had raved about the architecture tour via boat and it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon sight seeing.

That evening, we headed back to Evanston where my aunt and uncle live and went out for Indian food with my uncle and cousin.  The food was delicious and we all left very content.   The next day, Fourth of July, I had an early flight home to Norfolk, while my parents stuck around to celebrate.  Evanston does a big celebration for the fourth, filled with games and a parade.  My cousin was participating in an egg toss, so they all went and watched him before coming back for some pie.  How cool is this pie my aunt made?  Pretty impressive right?

Once I got home, my aunt picked me up.  The original plan was to go to the beach, but torrential rain cancelled that plan.  Instead, we went to lunch where I had a cheeseburger in the American spirit. It was a great last weekend in the United States filled with lots of laughter and love for this great country we live in (sometimes).

Ya live, ya learn.

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It's been a busy few days in the Hogan household because we finally moved in to our new apartment!! We're one step closer to being settled...

Let's back up though to Thursday.  There is a very small (read: part of a hotel) air force base here that we have been to a couple of times to get paper turned in.  They have a small restaurant and Thursday, they were having live music!  So, Mike and I headed down for dinner and a show!  I didn't have high hopes, but the singer was actually REALLY good.  Her name is Alaina Blair and she's doing an Armed Forces tour, so she decided to stop by little ole Izmir and say hello.  Definitely a fun little night out.

Friday was moving day part one! Hooray!  We packed up our bags and checked out of the hotel early in the morning.  We took a taxi to our new apartment to meet the first round of movers.   The housing office on base "rents" (it's free) furniture to the service members here since most of them aren't going to be here that long (and they usually aren't allowed to bring a lot of stuff). There was still some furniture in here from the last guy that needed to be taken out, plus, we were keeping some of the furniture and needed it moved around.  So, we now have a microwave, refrigerator, washer and dryer, full size bed in one of the guest bed rooms and some portable closets in the master bed room.  After they left, the second round of movers came and brought all of the stuff we had packed in our express shipment.  We had packed some dishes, silverware, and a pot and pan so that we could cook, as well as some sheets and lawn chairs so we could sleep and sit in our new apartment. It was super exciting to unpack that stuff and start to see our house come together. That excitement lasted about 6.2 seconds when we realized how little we had actually packed.  Apparently, you can send up to 1000 lbs in the express shipment, so we could have packed our entire kitchen, as well as our kitchen table and a few other luxuries (read: trash can, bath mat, can opener...ya know, true luxuries).  Ya live, ya learn I guess.  You better believe when we come back to the United States, we'll be sending a lot more in our express shipment.

Mike is sad that the only furniture we have are the beach chairs. I agree.

Anywaysssss, I spent the afternoon on Friday moving in.  I ventured out to the commissary on base, as well as the Turkish grocery store! Be proud! I was super nervous to have to pay for groceries and interact with someone who only spoke Turkish when I only spoke English, but we both survived.  Although, if I didn't stand out already with my light hair and confused look on my face, I definitely stood out when I still had the cart at the end of the check out line. Apparently, people in Izmir ditch them before they get in line.  Oh well.  Ya live ya learn.

After my big adventure to the grocery store, I spent the afternoon cleaning the apartment and let me tell you, it needed it.  There was a black residue all over the floors and counters, probably from leaving windows open. I spent the whole afternoon cleaning the apartment.  After three hours of hard work, I gave up and accepted that we should probably just wear shoes to avoid dirty feet because that black dust is just here to stay.  

Mike came home from Turkish class, which was my signal to throw in the towel (literally) and stop cleaning.  We went out for dinner near our apartment and got traditional Turkish food (beef, pita, and some vegetables) for dinner.  We ended the night with a drink at a bar that had it's walls covered in license plates from all over the world. I even found a Virginia plate!

Found this little gem at a bar.

Saturday, we woke up after our first night in our new apartment.   We slept in the bed that the movers had brought, which will eventually be in one of our guest bedrooms.  It was actually pretty comfortable.  Before we left, we had been told that we shouldn't drink the water from the tap here.  At restaurants, you have to ask for water and they always give you bottled water, never from the tap.  I think most people here just buy bottled water, but we really wanted to avoid that.   So, being the thrifty that we are, we decided that we were going to boil water to purify it.  We boiled a large pot of water, only to find that it had a residue that would settle on the bottom.  After some research, we came to the conclusion that we needed a water filter. So, out we ventured.

Our first stop was this store, Migros, which Mike described as the Turkish Target. While it paled in comparison to Target, it was an exciting discovery.  It was much smaller and reminded me more of like a Home Goods or a very small KMart.  Need tons of tupperware containers? That's your place.  Bored games? Got 'em!  The two things they didn't have were the water filter and a shopping cart to use so we can buy more than two items per shopping outing.  We left and made our way to the commissary.  We quickly found the Britta (but no shopping cart) and made our way back home.  After much research (aka the Britta manual), we learned that you need to filter the water and then boil it to complete clean and filter.  So we filtered and then boiled another pot of water.  We made ice cubes and put water in the Keurig, as well as saved a little for drinking. After looking at the filtered water, we're wondering if we can just drink that without boiling.  Thoughts?

It was a lot of work for water and definitely a lot easier to just buy water.  Now if only we could find a cart to put the bottled water in....

Our thoughts of the clean water escapade is....you guessed it...ya live, ya learn.

Sunday's adventure began bright and early.  We woke up and made breakfast.  After breakfast, I took a shower and Mike went into the bedroom  and noticed that the floor was wet.  When we did the walk through of the apartment, we noticed there was a water stain on the ceiling. We made a note of it, but moved on. I guess we should have thought twice about that because it was a real big leak.  Mike called the landlord who sent the building manager over.  He worked his magic and we no longer have a leak! Hurray!  We also have better water pressure, so yay to that!

Add a broken drinking glass to the mix and I would say it's been quite the exciting weekend.  To sum it all up, ya live, ya learn...right?

Update: I forgot!! Saturday was 4th of July!! Mike and I didn't do much to celebrate, except we wore red, white and blue and boiled hot dogs from the commissary in celebration.  We are so proud to be Americans, even if we aren't there to celebrate.  We are hoping by next year, we'll have some Turkish friends to show them how to celebrate the 4th with (plus some kitchen supplies to host a real American 4th of July party)!